If you invite, players will come
Posted by on April 25, 2011 – 9:58 amSo last month there was a flash of hype about the high-ranking draftees possibly not attending the draft in New York and not shaking commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand, all because of the labor situation and the whole players-versus-league concept. That seemed to fade, but it was impossible to know how much.
Today, we know. It turns out a record 25 players will attend the draft, crushing last year’s mark of 17 attendees. The NFL just announced it via e-mailed press release. The names to attend:
| Prince Amukamara | CB | Nebraska | Corey Liuget | DT | Illinois | ||
| Akeem Ayers | LB | UCLA | Von Miller | LB | Texas A&M | ||
| Adrian Clayborn | DE | Iowa | Rahim Moore | S | UCLA | ||
| Randall Cobb | WR | Kentucky | Cam Newton | QB | Auburn | ||
| Marcell Dareus | DT | Alabama | Patrick Peterson | CB | Louisiana State | ||
| Nick Fairley | DT | Auburn | Mike Pouncey | G/C | Florida | ||
| Blaine Gabbert | QB | Missouri | Aldon Smith | DE | Missouri | ||
| AJ Green | WR | Georgia | Tyron Smith | T | Southern California | ||
| Mark Herzlich | LB | Boston College | Phil Taylor | DT | Baylor | ||
| Mark Ingram | RB | Alabama | Danny Watkins | G | Baylor | ||
| Cameron Jordan | DE | California | JJ Watt | DE | Wisconsin | ||
| Julio Jones | WR | Alabama | Ryan Williams | RB | Virginia Tech | ||
| Ryan Kerrigan | DE | Purdue |
Tags: draft, Roger Goodell
Posted in Blog | 16 Comments »
By carlo7000 on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
darren
are you still thinking julio jones or aj green wont be an option for our first pick??
By RelayTV on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
It will be great to see Goodell shake the hand of the Cards #5 pick.
(PP I hope, I hope.)
But I have no doubt that the Cards will pick someone on that list.
2 Days and counting till I have to get in line for tickets to Round #1.
Yes, I am excited. Never been to the draft before.
By Darren Urban on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
Carlo —
RE: WR first
Jones no. I suppose Green might be an option depending on who is drafted in front of them, but I still think it’s unlikely.
By shaefer on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
Its nice to see the local Chandler High kid Cameron Jordan on this big stage…
By Ottis Anderson Fan on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
I’m more interested in seeing the list of draftees the Cards invited for individual workouts, whether at their college or in Tempe. ;)
By SteveDCO on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
More and more I hear about the draft, I’m getting excited about the Cards taking Peterson. DRC and PP with Toler playing nickel makes a pretty solid backfield.
OLB and OL still remains a critical need but Schofield can help at OLB and a lot of room to make OL moves in FA.
By cards62 on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
Relay TV
Have a good time at the draft. Are you going for all 3 days or just day 1?
I love to watch the draft and listen to the football guys talk about our team and our needs plus also talk about the other teams. Just a cool time for all NFL fans to have hope for their teams, and like I said before I think this is a very big year for Graves and Whisenhunt future and a great draft will surely help.
Go Cards
By TBru on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
I want to see Roger shake Von Miller’s hand regardless of who drafts him, that should be awkwardly funny.
I just saw the judge lifted the lockout, should I be excited, or is it going to get appealed and drug through the mud more?
By RED BIRD 66 on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
Darren,
I just heard the judge ruled the lockout is reversed and teams can sign players. Is this true? If so, we should go sign Peyton to a ridiculous contract he can’t refuse and assure him #11 will stay on and we focus on D in the draft. It would be great if they just tried to do it, how could Manning refuse this weather.
By Chuck 1 on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
Now that the Judge has sided with the players and stopped the lockout, the NFL should just capitulate and offer the (de-certified) Union 100 percent of all proceeds of the league and let the players divvy up that bundle as they see fit;
(probably $32.00 for the NFL and the rest for the (non) Union).
Seems like what is going on in the rest of the country.
By VoiceofReason on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
OK, now that the lockout is enjoined, what do you say we go out and sign Marc Bulger?
By AndyStandsUp on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
I find it hard to believe that either the fans or the players won’t show their dissatisfaction without a gesture or two. (Maybe booing or shaking the Commish’s hand and holding the jersey, but not donning the cap?)
Mark Herzlich is a wonderful story with the bone cancer, but he’s going to be the last player on the floor, by a long shot. What 3rd or 4th round at best?
By cahongisto on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
Mock it up guys I love the cardinals and I wanna know what everyone thinks for 7rds…
my personal dream mock …
Rd1: Patrick Peterson CB – LSU Creates best corner tandum in professional football under the age of 25
Rd2: Akeem Ayers OLB – UCLA Pressure leads to turnovers and we are in desperate need of creating pressure *I’d love to see Brooks Reed here from Arizona but my gut tells me he does not make it past Green Bay at 32 *
Rd3: Casey Matthews ILB – Oregon High Motor guy who can help in the LB rotation for the cards and provide that never quit attitude they seemed to lack at times on defense
Rd4: John Moffitt C/G – Wisconsin I think we should play him at right guard moving Levi back to the right side and hopefully start to establish a running game to that side
Rd5: Kris O’Dowd C – USC O’Dowd and Moffitt could seriously make a giant long term improvement to the interior of our offensive line and keep our QB jersey nice and clean
Rd6: Greg McElroy QB – Alabama His intelligence rivals Brady and Manning and his size is comparable to Brees … I admit his arm might not be as exceptional but he survived and won pretty frequently in the SEC which atleast shows he can play with top notch competition
Rd6: Mark Herzlich ILB – Boston College Character guys can be invaluable and for him to come back from bone cancer is a giant showing of his character in my book. Yes he is a step slower but with time and our training staff he can be a steal unlike any other we’ll see this decade.
Rd7: Jeff Maehl WR – Oregon Reminds me of Wes Welker and would be a more sure handed special teamer as the special teams unit was a complete disaster last year and if you want proof just watch the tape from the Raiders game… Having a returner who can be a solid center fielder and direct guys while making returns can be a huge weapon and I think Maehl can be that for us.
By cody on Apr 25, 2011 | Reply
Darren, since the lock out is temporarily over, was Ray Horton able to give out playbooks to the players today? it would seem like a good idea to do before the owners appeal.
By bluepitt on Apr 26, 2011 | Reply
here is a funny story,
Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-silver_rogue_scout_enjoys_label_042511
here is a snipet of the arty.
“As another example of the evils of groupthink, Razzano cited Cardinals GM Rod Graves’ mandate that scouts grade each player “for the league,” rather than merely assessing his value for their specific needs.
“Everyone else makes you grade for the team,” Razzano said. “But in Arizona, you’re told to assign a value for the whole league, and it can come back to bite you. That’s how we got [underachieving defensive tackle] Alan Branch(notes) in ’07. He was projected as a first-round pick, and we’re sitting there in our draft room saying, ‘Oh [expletive], he’s gonna slip,’ and now he’s up at the top of our board, and Rod trades up to get him [with the first pick] in the second round. And none of us [scouts] liked the guy.”
I like this one, (Im telling you that kid from Reno is a baller)
“Razzano was especially excited by tape of Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick, highlighting a downfield throw the quarterback made against Cal last September. “Watch this play,” Razzano said. “It’s a real NFL play. There’s pressure … he slides up and keeps his eyes downfield … then whoop, he throws it back across his body. That’s a tough throw.
“He’s so effortless. People say he’s got a slow release, but I’ve seen him get rid of it. He’s a good decision-maker – he’s smart and tough, and if he has to pull it down and run it, he can. And he’s as good a passer on the deep and intermediate throws as I’ve seen [from this year’s crop]. I’d love to see the Raiders take him; I think he’d fit there perfectly.”
By Edijkstra on Apr 26, 2011 | Reply
Razzano’s comments about Alan Branch didn’t make sense to me. Why does “picking for the league” (i..e not considering team need) mean that you have to rate a player high that you don’t like? And why is that “groupthink”?
Personally I agree that you should not consider team need when rating players. Team need can be factored in later. If you factor it into the player rating from the start, then you end up wondering “did we rate this guy high because he’s that good, or because we need help at his position?”.
Whenever possible it’s best to separate concerns rather than combine them.